TEACHER’S GUIDE

LESSON 5: WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Video summary: Anna goes outside and shows what she can do.
Functional purpose: Express ability using can
Grammar: Modal can + infinitive
Letters and sounds: Jj, Uu, Mm; /ump/
Numbers: 1-15
Questions: What can you do?
Answers: I can _____. You/he/she/we/they can _____.
Key words: jump, read, eat, throw, walk, sing, draw, write, cube

PREPARE TO WATCH
Get students’ attention

• Start to sing, walk, or count to 10, then say:

“I can _______”, using one of those action verbs (sing, walk or count). Write the verb on
the board.

• Ask “Who can jump?” and demonstrate. Students can jump and teacher can model
“you/he/they/we can jump!” and have students repeat.
• Say and repeat words that rhyme with jump: stump, hump, pump

Connect to students’ experiences

This can be done in native language or English.

• Ask: “What do you do every day?”

• Introduce a few key verbs (draw, write, sing) and the question: Who can _____? (insert the
verb)

Write: draw, write, sing on the board. Ask students to say/add other things they can do.

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• Draw a cube on the board and/or bring cube-shaped objects such as dice.
• Tell students in this lesson they learn how to say what they can do.

Guess: What will happen?

• Show students the image below. Ask, “What does Anna have?” If students know it is a kind of
puzzle, ask, “Can Anna do the puzzle?

• Ask: “How about Max? Can Max help Anna with the puzzle?”

WATCH AND REVIEW THE VIDEO

Check understanding with specific questions (add your own as necessary)

• What does Anna put in Max’s box?

• What pages are missing from the book?
• What can the friends do?

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Talk more about the video

• Ask students what they liked, what made them laugh, and what parts they want to see again.
• Teach one or two new words from the video.
• Ask students to say what happened in the video.
• Write a few more action verbs on the board and have students talk about what they can or
cannot do. Ask them about what members of their family or other people they know can do.

See How-to Guide for more ways to talk about the video.

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ACTIVITIES
1. Sound of /j/, /st/, /h/, -ump

Set up/materials

• Play the video until Anna says, “Hey, let’s go take a walk!”

How to

• Write the sounds and words that Anna shows on the board. Have students repeat and copy them
in their notebooks.

/j/ + ump = jump

/st/ + ump = stump
/h/ + ump = hump

• Practice sounds /j/, /st/, /h/: choose three words for each sound and have students repeat:

/j/: job, jug, jeep

/st/: stop, step, stick
/h/: hot, hat, hit

Variations

• Ask students to think of other words in this word family - that is, words ending with -ump.
Possible answers are bump, lump, pump, and dump.

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2. Writing letters Jj, Uu, Mm

Set up/materials

• Write the letters Jj, Uu, and Mm on the board, in both uppercase and lowercase.
• Activity sheet for letters Jj, Uu, and Mm

How to

• Say each letter Jj, Uu, and Mm as you point at it on the board and have students repeat.
• Point to the letters on the board and say, “Watch the video now for these letters. Raise your hand
when you see them in the video.”
• Play the video until the end. Ask, “What does Anna write with the letters J and U?”
• Write the answer, jump, on the board.
• Ask, “What other words can we write with J and U?” Possible answers include juice, just, jug,
judge, and June.
• Write J and U in the air and have students follow with their own hands.
• Say “Big J ” and write uppercase J.
• Say “small j” and write lowercase j. Note the dot over the lowercase j but not over the
uppercase J.
• Continue with U and u. Write the letters in uppercase and lowercase on the board and have
students practice writing. Use the activity sheet below.

Variations

• Have students write letters on a sand table, or with water and brushes on pavement.
• Ask students why some words start with uppercase letters.

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3. Numbers 13, 14, 15

Set up/materials

• Write the numbers and numerals thirteen (13), fourteen (14) and fifteen (15) on the board as
you say the words.

How to

• Point out that these numbers are sometimes confused with the numbers thirty (30), forty (40)
and fifty (50). When pronouncing 13, 14, and 15, a little stress is on the second syllable. Clap your
hands to show this and have students repeat while clapping: thirTEEN, fourTEEN, fifTEEN.
• Count objects in the classroom up to 15.
• Ask “How many ______ are there?” and have students answer.

Variations

• Count by twos: 1,3,5,7 . . . or 2,4,6,8 . . .

• Count by fives: 5,10,15
• If there is a clock or stopwatch, have students try to count along with each second.
• Have students practice counting backwards. You can start with small sequences of numbers,
such as 3,2,1 and then do longer sequences according to students’ abilities: 10,9,8,7 . . .
• Vary the speed of counting

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4. Read and Write

Set up/materials

• Students form pairs or small groups.

• If possible, find or bring objects with cube shapes (dice, boxes, toys—Rubik’s Cube if possible)
• Read and Write activity sheet

How to

• Find (or bring) examples of cube shapes in your classroom. Show the shape for the first
question. Point to the first question on the Read and Write activity sheet and read it aloud:
“What is it?” Have students repeat the question.
• Ask, “Who knows the answer to this question?” Write cube on the board. Explain, “A cube is a
shape with six equal sides. Each side has a shape, a square. Can you find other squares in this
room?” See how many examples students can find in the classroom.
• Say, “In the box below this question, trace over the dotted lines to write the word cube.”
• Continue with the rest of the activity sheet.
• List the words from the activity sheet on the board: cube, can, do, jump and read. Have
students copy them in their notebook with other new words they are learning.
• Ask several students to share their own questions from the activity sheet and write them on the
board.

Variations

• Ask students to take turns asking and answering questions by reading the completed words and
phrases on their activity sheets. Students can add their own question and help their partner with
the answer if needed. Choose two or three pairs to demonstrate their reading for the rest of the
class.
• Have students copy the entire text of the Read and Write activity sheet into their notebooks.

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5. Listen and Speak

Set up/materials

• Students form pairs or small groups.

• Listen and Speak activity sheet

How to

• Show students the Listen and Speak activity sheet. In this activity, students will learn to ask and
answer using the modal verb, can.
• Ask students if they can say the actions shown in the photos.
• Say the actions pictured and ask students to repeat: eat, throw, draw, walk, write, play, talk,
sing, jump. Use gestures and have students follow you in acting out the words to make sure
they understand all the verbs.
• Point out that students need only write out the short answer on the blank line: eat, but when
speaking, should say a complete sentence: She can eat.
• Model the activity with a student. Have the student make a question about one of the pictures.
Answer with “They/he/she are/is” and the modal verb can with the simple form of the verb,
depending on the image.

Variations

• Have students work with one or two other students. They should take turns asking and
answering as follows:

Student A: “What can they do?”

Student B: “They can ________.”

• After giving some time for this practice, choose two or three pairs to demonstrate their listening
and speaking for the rest of the class.

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LEARN MORE

1. Over and Under

Set up/materials

Books or other classroom materials

How to

• Play to the end of the video. Anna shows how she can jump over a tree stump.
• Point out the preposition over following the verb jump. Demonstrate by asking students to hold
a book over their desk or table. Show it with your own book, saying, “The book is over the
table.”
• Have students repeat. Then hold the book under the table, saying, “The book is under the
table.”
• Have students talk about other objects in the class which are over another object. Write the
words over and under on the board and have students add them to their notebooks.

Variations

• Have students draw pictures showing objects over and under other objects. Then students can
try to say sentences describing their pictures.
• Have students take objects in the classroom and put them over and under other objects and say
sentences describing them.

2. Hopscotch

Set up/materials

Drawing on board of hopscotch game (see below)

Chalk for drawing on ground and/or sticks for drawing on ground. Masking or painter’s tape if
doing activity indoors.

How to

• This active game lets students practice counting from 1 to 10 in English. Draw a hopscotch
board like the one below. (Chalk is best for pavement outdoors. Use sticks to draw in hard
ground/dirt. If playing inside, use masking or painter’s tape.) For large classes, draw several

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boards so that smaller groups can play on each board. Make sure the squares are larger than the
size of people’s feet.

Explain directions in English, native language, or both:

• Say: “Throw a small stone, twig, beanbag, or other markers into the first square. If it lands on a
line, or outside the square, you lose your turn. Pass the marker to the following player and wait
for your next turn.
• “Hop on one foot into the first empty square, and then each empty square after that. Say the
number aloud as you hop on each square - ‘two, three, four. . .’
• “Be sure to skip the square your marker is on and do not say that number.
• “At the pairs (2-3, 5-6, 8-9), hop with both feet. At 10, hop with both feet, turn around, and go
back toward the start.
• “When you reach the marked square again, keep standing on one foot and pick up the marker—
then complete the course.
• “If you finished without any mistakes, pass the marker to the next player. On your next turn,
throw the marker to the next number. For example, if you finished with number 2, throw the
marker to number 3 on your next turn.
• “If you fall, jump outside the lines, or miss with the marker, you lose your turn and must repeat
the same number on your next turn. Whoever reaches 10 first, wins.”

Variations

• For more advanced students you may draw a board with numbers from 10 to 20 or write the
number instead of using a numeral. Or, write words in English that you want your students to
practice saying aloud instead of numbers.

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CHECK UNDERSTANDING
1. Quiz

Give students the printed quiz at the end of this lesson guide, have them use the online quiz, or
simply write the questions on the board. If you want to test only their listening skills, say the
questions but don’t write them.

Questions:

1. How old is she? She is (13) years old.

2. What can Ana do? Ana can .
3. What can Sarah do? Sarah can .
4. Ana jumps a stump.
5. Max can do a Rubik’s .

Answer key:

1. thirteen
2. draw
3. sing
4. over
5. cube

2. Questions and Answers with can

• Give students practice answering questions with can:

• Ask, “Who can count to 15?” “Who can spell jump?”
• Teach the reply: “I can!”
• Expand with pronouns: She can, he can, they can (and so on), using different students and
groups of students to show how to use the pronouns.
• The negative, I can’t, will also occur and needs practice to avoid the error “I no can _____.”
• End the class by doing something together like singing a song and saying, “We can ________!”

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